Hole 7
by Ellen1996
Summary: When the body of a young aspiring golf player is found on the course, Rizzoli and Isles have to dig into the depths of cryptology to find their answers.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note: I've been hysterically busy with writing my novels and screenplays that I've shamefully abandoned my FanFiction account. Even though I've been reading a lot of fics, I haven't been writing at all. Here's a Rizzoli and Isles story, please enjoy!_

_Also, I'm not ashamed to admit that this is literally one of my crime novels that I'm adapting to the Rizzoli and Isles universe. It's a series of books about two detectives, Lea Jensen and Elizabeth Browning. I'm adapting, as said, so if any problems with names or situations occur, I humbly apologize._

_**Chapter one**_

"Par!" The woman yelled enthusiastically as she lowered her putter club and walked to the hole to collect her ball. With a smile, she turned to her flight mate.

"Hey Craig!" she smiled as he attempted to chip from the edge of the green. He looked up and smirked. "What? I have to focus if I want to keep up with your score, miss pro player."

With a grin, she stepped back and watched him chip the ball...and miss the hole by an inch. She had trouble keeping a straight face as he grimaced and walked to his ball, finishing the putt.

"Well, that's minus three for me and four for you." She winked at him as she wrote down the score. He raised an eyebrow at her and collected his ball, walking back to his golf bag and putting his club away.

"I'll kick your ass on the next hole." He smiled as they both walked with their bags to the path that would lead them to the next hole.

"Hole seven." He commented dryly on the small board that noted the distance from tee-off to green.

"Hey, there's a bathroom here. Mind if I take a short break?" she pointed at the cabin next to the tee. He shrugged. "Go ahead."

With a thankful nod, she dropped her bag and removed her glove and entered the cabin. He stretched his sore limbs and cursed the woman for being such an amazing golf player and being so nonchalant about it.

Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned his head to see what was causing the commotion, and saw something disappearing into the bushes. His heart thumped loudly as he neared the bush and crouched to check if he could see anything. With a smile, he saw the rabbit hopping away from him.

_Damn those rabbits._ He shook his head as he got up again and frowned at the cabin. _And damn her for taking so long._

Realising he had nothing to do, he took the ball he was about to tee with and put it in the ball cleaner, rinsing it and drying it off. The ball looked as good as new. He grabbed a plastic tee from his bag, put the tee on the right location and put his ball on top of it.

"If you don't come out in five seconds I'm teeing off without you!" he yelled at the cabin. When he didn't get a reply, he frowned and put his driver club down, approaching the bathroom.

"Hey, didn't you hear me? I'm going to-..." he cut himself off when he saw the bathroom door, wide open and vacant. He looked around, his face now distorted with concern. "Where are you?" he looked around, seeing nothing but plants and grass.

A twig snapped behind him. He spun around so fast he swore he could hear his neck bones cracking. But he didn't see anything. He walked back to his bag cautiously, grabbed an iron club and held it up like a weapon, approaching the place where he'd heard the sound.

"This isn't funny...stop it!" he tried once more, but he didn't get a reaction. He stepped into the rough bushes, looking around, until his feet were caught in something slippery. He looked down, expecting to see mud.

The dark red liquid stained his white golf shoes and his heart leaped in his chest. He now looked around frantically, stumbling like a drunk man, helplessly searching for her.

After ten seconds of running around, following the blood trail, his feet got caught up in something on the ground and he fell forward, hitting his head on the branches of a bush. He turned around slowly, his club lying forgotten in the dirt.

"Oh no..." his throat went dry at the sight before him. He reached into his pockets and with shaky hands dialed the familiar three-digit number.

The woman staring at him with hollow eyes was naked...and her blood was sprayed all over the ground and bushes in the vicinity.

With a shock, he looked down, right when the operator answered his call.

Her left hand was gone.

"JANE!" the sound of her name being called shook the detective awake roughly. She grunted and rolled over in the bed, pulling the pillow next to her over her head.

"Hey sleepyhead!" she whined loudly as she sat upright, yawning. "What?!"

"Get downstairs and hurry!" She looked at the ceiling and cursed herself for forgetting to set her alarm. She looked at her watch and frowned. _07:43_

She rolled her eyes as she quickly put some clothes on and went downstairs, where her partner was waiting impatiently.

"Maura, what the hell? I thought I overslept, you woke me an hour before the alarm!"

Maura Isles looked up and frowned. "Well, excuse me for being an early birdie. And I didn't wake you up when I got downstairs."

"Why..." Jane took a deep breath and accepted the mug of freshly ground coffee Maura was handing her.

"I woke up around six and I couldn't sleep so I went downstairs to do something useful." The ME explained. "Around half past seven I got a call. We have a homicide."

"Well if you'd woken me up then at Janest I could have taken a shower." Jane grunted.

"Stop complaining and get ready. We can have breakfast afterwards."

"I hate work in the morning." She grunted again as she finished her cup of coffee in a couple of sips and raced upstairs to brush her teeth and fix her hair. Within five minutes, she was downstairs and ready. Maura looked at her, dressed up nicely as always.

"Do you have your kit?" She asked the doctor, who nodded quickly. "I'll drive."Jane continued.

The two women left the house and walked to the car. Jane got in the drivers seat. She started the car and raced off.

"What do we know?" Jane asked after a while of comfortable silence.

"Female victim, found at the golf course." Maura said, staring ahead.

"Golf course?!" she repeated, frowning deeply. Her best friend nodded slightly. "We'll have to find out the rest."

"So much for a relaxing day of paperwork."

Jane parked the car smoothly in a small parking spot in the lot of the golf club and got out. Maura was right behind her, smiling. "Cheer up, at least we'll have something to talk about in the evening."

"Yeah. Awesome." The detective grunted as she locked the car and the pair walked towards the building.

"Maybe they'll let us drive a golf cart!" Maura said suddenly, sounding excited. Jane frowned at her friend's enthusiasm but laughed it off. The receptionist looked up as they reached him.

"Hi, we're Boston homicide." Jane smiled as she showed the man her badge. He nodded. "It's terrible, what happened. They're at hole seven. It's not that far from here, I'd suggest you walk."

"Are you kidding...?" Jane asked the man. He frowned and shook his head. "I'd give you a golf cart but they're all taken for investigation."

"Of course they are. There are moments where we do our work too damn good." Jane growled as she turned around and started walking towards the course. Maura thanked the man quickly and then ran behind her.

"Paradise." Maura smiled at Jane as they walked on the golf course, towards the crime scene. Jane looked at her and laughed. "Yeah, paradise, if you don't mind the mud on your clothes and shoes."

"You know, I actually golfed for a while." The blonde smiled. Jane frowned. "Really? You?"

"Handicap 30. Had to quit." Maura nodded as she looked around her. "But I know a cool golf course when I see one. I'd love to hit a ball or two here."

"Why did you quit?" Jane asked as they crossed the path from hole six to seven. Maura shrugged. "I...just...the people here aren't very nice. Sometimes they're downright arrogant. I quit."

Jane's nostrils flared with the deep sigh escaping.

They reached the hole and saw the crime scene tape hanging in the corner, next to a small cabin. The police officer on guard looked at them expectantly.

"I'm detective Jane Rizzoli and this is Medical Examiner Maura Isles." They both flashed their identifications as routine, the officer nodded and they slipped underneath the tape.

"What do we have here?" Jane said to herself as they stepped in the bushes, walking up to the body. The medical examiner walked up to the body and opened her kit.

"Good morning, detective Korsak, detective Frost." Maura nodded at the men as Korsak and Frost walked up to them.

"What's the situation?" Jane said as she crouched next to Maura.

"Victim's name is Sasha Ferguson, 25, fatal stab wounds. Severed left hand, the limb itself wasn't found."

"Any idea on how long she's been here?" Maura wrapped her arms around herself. She hadn't anticipated the cold wind when she'd dressed herself.

"The witness claimed that he found her about an hour ago."

"Witness?" Jane asked. "Did someone see it happening?"

"I have no idea. You should ask the guy, he's over there." Korsak pointed at a man sitting on a bench nearby, in conversation with an officer. Jane got up and walked towards him, Frost hot on her heels.

"We'll take it from here, thanks." The officer nodded and left.

"What's your name, sir?" Jane asked him. The man looked up, his eyes were red. "C-Craig Danning. She's really dead...isn't she?"

The rhetorical question brought two identical sympathetic looks on the faces of the detectives. Jane nodded slowly and took a seat next to him on the bench.

"I'm afraid so...Mister Danning, what was your relation to Sasha?"

"We were...golfing mates. I met her about a year ago on the course here...she's really good. On her way to becoming a pro...I went with her to practice. We had the earliest flight possible today because she had to go somewhere." He dried his cheeks with the back of his hand. "She wanted to go to the bathroom...I checked on her, she wasn't there. I found her in the bushes, I called 911."

"You did well." Jane said to the man. He nodded slowly. "Who'd want her dead? She was the sweetest girl..."

"Did she have any enemies? People she had disagreements with?"

"No...she rarely talked about her private life. And...there's only one person I can think of that disliked her..."

"And that person is...?" Jane asked him as Frost grabbed a small notepad from her jacket pocket.

"Dawn Jacobs. She was her rival...they were very competitive against each other during events. They got into a fight sometimes."

"Okay, we'll look into that. Would you like to come with us to the police station to get an official statement?"

"Yeah, okay." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Uhm...My club. I threw it in the bushes, an iron seven. Is it okay if..."

"We'll examine it and when it's cleared you'll get it back immediately." Frost said. He nodded. "Okay."

"Did she have any family or relatives we can contact about her death?"

"Her mom passed away and her dad went AWOL in Afghanistan." He said, shaking his head. "But you can try her brother, he lives not too far from here."

"What's his name?" Jane asked. Craig thought for a second. "Simon. Simon Ferguson."

"Okay, I'll seach the address." Frost took his cellphone from his pocket and distanced himself from the scene. Jane walked back to Maura.

"Do we have any idea what the murder weapon is, Maura?" she asked the ME who was now working on getting the body in a body bag. The woman looked up, ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "I don't believe we're dealing with a double weapon. It must've been one weapon to both sever her hand and to stab her. We're getting the body transported so I can perform an autopsy."

"Okay." Realizing that her work at the scene was practically done by the numerous police officers walking around collecting evidence, she turned around. she frowned as she saw something lying at her feet. She crouched and stared at it. It was white and it contrasted brightly with the muddy ground.

"Hey, can I borrow a pair of gloves?" she asked the ME, who nodded and got a pair out of her kit, throwing it towards her. Thanking her quickly, Jane put them on and picked up the object. It turned out to be a small piece of paper.

"Bag this, we need to find out what it is. It looks like there were letters on it but the mud made it unreadable." The officer she was talking to nodded and put the piece of paper in an evidence bag.

Jane got up and walked back to her partner, who looked at her, holding his phone.

"I just got the adress for the victim's brother. Think we should go check it out?"

"We at least have to go tell him about his sister." Jane shrugged.

Frost groaned. "I hate bringing bad news."

They walked back to the parking lot. "What do you think of the witness?" Jane asked.

The detective thought for a second, then sighed. "Pretty sure he's clean. If his story is true, then it's that Dawn Jacobs individual we have to watch out for. We should put her on our bucket list."

"Definitely." Jane agreed with him. They reached his car in no time.

As they pulled out of their parking spot, Jane got the creeping feeling that this wouldn't be the last time they visited the club.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Let's hope this guy doesn't cry. I don't want to start crying too." Jane frowned as they walked up to the front door. Jane had one hand on her badge and one on her gun, a reflex she'd grown accustomed to over the months of working.

She knocked three times, then stepped back. After about ten seconds of silence, she frowned and knocked again. "Boston police, open the door!"

After some time, the lock was turned and the door opened slowly. A boy stood in the doorway, he looked about sixteen. "Yeah?"

"Simon Ferguson?" Frost asked. The boy's eyes shot from him to Jane and back. "Yeah, that's me."

"My name's Jane Rizzoli, I'm with BPD, this is Barry Frost...can we come in?"

"Uhm, my sister's not home..." he hesitated. Jane sighed sadly. "We want to talk to you."

The boy stepped aside and let the two detectives in. The hallway was full of pictures with Simon and Sasha, and two people that could only be their parents.

"Sit down, please." Frost pointed at the couch. The boy took a seat, frowning deeply. "I was kind of in the middle of a gaming battle."

"I'm sorry but it's urgent." Jane took a seat next to him, looking him in the eyes. "It's about your sister."

"What's wrong with her?" he asked slowly, tensing. Jane crossed her arms and stared at the ground, hating this moment in her work.

"We...we found the body of your sister on the golf course." Frost said cautiously. Simon's face remained neutral at first, then went to shock, and then turned to anger. "Who did it?" he asked slowly, clearly trying to keep himself under control.

"Well...that's what we want to find out." The boy breathed heavily at the answer. "Tell me you're lying...please..."

"Were you living alone with your sister?" Jane asked him, stepping forward. He looked up and nodded quickly. "She...she was all I had left." His fists clenched and unclenched.

"I think it's best if you come with us to the police station, we'll work things out and you can tell us the story, you can help us find who did it."

"I'm not leaving this house." He shook his head with a near maniacal expression. "I was gaming...I need to finish my battle."

"There will be time for that later, Simon." Jane got up slowly and tried to pull him up, but he growled and shoved her away roughly before stomping out of the room and up the stairs.

Frost tried to go after him, but Jane stopped him with a hand to her chest. The detective frowned. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. We'll just call some people to get him to the station, we're wasting time anyways. This guy isn't a suspect."

"So what do you propose we do?" Frost asked her partner.

"I guess we could head to the station and try to get some evidence."

"Sounds good. Come on." Frost walked towards the front door, but Jane stopped. The male detective turned around and frowned. "What?"

"Simon..." she pointed at the ceiling, "...has headphones on and is in the middle of a vicious game battle."

"Well spotted, Sherlock." Frost frowned. Jane shook her head. "Now is the time to look around a little. A warrant will take forever to get."

"Jane, this isn't a good idea."

"I know." She nodded as she walked through the living room, looking around. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she reached for it, checking the message.

"Head to the station asap. It's from Korsak." Jane looked up at her partner who was looking around intensely. "Come on, we'll get a warrant later and search the place."

Frost didn't respond immediately but followed her out of the house and into the car.

"I'm going to the shooting range tonight, want to come?" Frost asked Jane as he got behind the wheel and put her seatbelt on. The other detective shrugged. "I was thinking about going for a drink, it's been ages since I've had a beer."

"Second that. I'll drop by after practice."

"I'll get you a cold beer ready." Jane smiled at her partner as they ripped through the streets again.

"So sad...a golf player with that kind of potential...lost talent." Jane sighed sadly. Frost shrugged.

"People are getting murdered everywhere, Jane. Talented people."

"Still...25. She must've just finished college or something...I wonder what she studied. Come to think of it, neither her brother nor the witness told us anything about a boyfriend or husband."

"Maybe we should look into that."

"Another thing to do, yaay." Jane rolled her eyes, but Barry knew that she was being playful.

"I wonder what that Dawn Jacobs individual is like." She sighed after a while of silent driving.

"Knowing the pretentious people that walk around on golf courses, especially here in Boston, I have a feeling she'll be exactly like I picture her."

"Now, now. You don't stereotype, Barold." Jane grinned. Frost raised an eyebrow. "I know a couple of golf players and every flight there's always a pretentious guy. Sadly enough, this town has a lot of people like that."

"What is a 'flight' anyways? I feel like an idiot when you two use that golf mumbo jumbo." Jane looked at her partner expectingly, obviously talking about her best friend.

"A flight is the departure from the main building to the holes. There is a flight every, say, eight minutes. People within one flight stick together during the holes. It's nothing spectacular, it's just people getting onto hole one to tee off."

"Teeing off is hitting the ball?"

"Teeing off is putting the little wooden stick on the ground, putting your ball onto it and hitting it for the first time on every hole."

"Right. Hey, I could be a pro golf player knowing all this." Jane smiled jokingly. Frost laughed as he parked in front of the police station and stopped the car, pulling the key out of the ignition.

"I could honestly use breakfast right now, I'm starving." Jane whined as they walked inside the station. Frost looked at her and smiled. "I'll buy you a donut."

"Cop talk, huh? I love it." The female detective smiled as they walked to the small café inside the station and bought two donuts. Munching, the two stepped inside the elevator that brought them to the first floor quickly.

"You guys took your time." Korsak grinned up at them. They both gave him a weird look and he laughed. "Calm down, it's okay, I was joking."

"What do we know?" Jane asked, biting her nails. Korsak looked up at them.

"Sasha Ferguson, clean slate. I didn't find any husband or boyfriend, she lived at the adress I texted you."

"Together with her brother."

"How did the guy take it?" He asked, turning his chair around to face his computer screen, connected to a beamer shining on a white wall. Frost and Jane took a seat at their desks facing each other.

"Well..." Jane started. "He got pretty angry at us and disappeared upstairs to finish his game. We'll need a warrant, but I doubt there's anything interesting in the house."

"Kids these days." Vince shook his head sadly and typed some more on the computer. "I searched her name on the web."

Images and newspaper articles popped up on the huge screen.

_Young talent wins golf cup – Ferguson drops to handicap 12 – Ferguson beats Jacobs again_

"Wait, show that last one." Jane pointed at the article. Frost took over from Korsak and enlarged the article, showing a photo of the victim with a short-haired brunette. Underneath the article, it said '_Ferguson and Jacobs, here still close'__. _

"Still close? What does that mean?" Jane asked. He clicked a few more times.

"Apparently, they were great friends up until two months ago. During a match they got into a huge fight and they hated each other ever since."

"That sounds like a motive." Jane commented. Korsak nodded with a frown and searched on his own computer.

Jane's phone buzzed in her pocket. She grabbed it and checked the message.

"Maura says she's got something." She got up and looked at Frost, who nodded. "Good luck."

The woman walked towards the elevator and got in.

"Good morning." Maura greeted her as she entered the lab. The victim was lying on the table lifeless, a sheet draped over her. She looked fragile, it broke their hearts.

"Morning. What did you discover?" Jane asked as she approached the autopsy table.

"Well...upon investigation..." Maura sighed. "She was raped."

"Wait, what?" Jane's eyes widened. "According to the witness, she was murdered in max five minutes."

"Well...from what I can tell..." The ME bit her lip as she looked at the victim, "...this was pre-mortem."

"She was raped _before_she got murdered? How long before?" Jane asked. Maura looked at her computer and then back up at the detective. "About...three to four hours."

Jane winced as she looked down at the girl. "So...two different crimes or one?"

"Hard to say." The ME sighed.

"Wait..." She frowned. Maura looked at her.

"If we assume that Dawn Jacobs was the killer, and I know we shouldn't..." she paused. "Then she must've had a male accomplice for the rape, right?"

"Not necessarily. She has tearings and bruises but I didn't find any evidence of semen." Maura patted the dead girl's shoulder. "She could've been raped with an object, which means a woman could have done it."

"Okay. Thanks, Maur." Jane nodded. "I think it's time to pay Dawn Jacobs a visit, don't you?"

"Agreed." Maura took off her gloves. Jane frowned. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going with you!" she smiled. Jane grunted, but let the ME follow her out of the morgue.

(...)

"Miss Jacobs?" Jane asked as they walked up to the golfer, who was hitting balls on the practicing tees.

Without looking up, the woman replied. "That would be me."

"Miss, could you please...step away from the mat and turn to us?" She continued, frowning. The woman didn't move but continued to hit the ball.

"It's about Sasha Ferguson." Jane attempted one last time, clearly losing her patience. The woman turned around, clearly bored. "Look, I'm not allowed to talk about the incident to the press so get lost."

"Well, that would be hard." The black-haired detective pulled her jacket aside slightly to reveal the badge. "Boston homicide. We'd like your statement in a murder case."

"Did that bitch finally die?" Dawn sighed in obvious relief. "That took too long. I was waiting for it."

"Where were you this morning between six and seven AM, miss Jacobs?" Maura asked. Dawn huffed and picked up her club again, hitting another ball.

"I was at home, sleeping, obviously."She raised an eyebrow.

"Is there anyone who can confirm that story?" Jane asked. Dawn lowered her club again with an annoyed grunt. "My husband was at home. If you'll excuse me, I have a flight in five minutes." She put her club back and began to drive her golf trolly.

"You might want to skip hole seven." Jane said dryly. Dawn stopped, turned around and frowned.

"And don't leave town, we'll need you again."Maura added. The golf player rolled her eyes and walked off. The blonde looked at her best friend.

"Well that sure was useful."

"That alibi is so transparent it makes my car windows jealous." Jane said jokingly. Maura laughed and straightened her jacket, walking back to the car.

"That makes Dawn Jacobs our number one suspect. We'll have to check the husband."

"And check her criminal record. I have a feeling that woman is hiding something." The blonde added with a sigh.

They got back into the car. After a while of driving, Jane's cellphone rang. She switched the car kit on. "Rizzoli."

"Jane, it's Frost, I'm afraid I've got bad news."

"Right, let's make the day worse." Jane sighed. "What is it?"

"I just had a look at the evidence. I think you should head back here, there's stuff I have to show you."

"What's so bad about evidence?" Maura asked.

"Well...It's not really positive evidence." Frost explained, obviously annoyed at the lack of progress.

"Does it say that Dawn Jacobs isn't the killer?" Jane frowned.

"It doesn't say anything at all." Frost said. This brought silence on both ends of the line.

"Look, just come back to the station asap." He said, before disconnecting. Jane looked at the ME.

"I have a feeling that this isn't going to be over soon."

"Yeah." Maura grunted, stretching her neck.

(...)

"This should be good." Jane walked in, fixing her hair. The Medical Examiner walked in after her, taking a seat at her desk.

"Evidence said you found a piece of paper at the scene." Frost said to Jane. She nodded quickly. "Yeah, but it was unreadable. All wet from the mud."

"So you thought. One of our techs managed to reconstruct what was written on the paper. It was small and scribbled hastily, but she did it." He opened up a photo on the big screen.

_DJLAAKES WIDHNLSA_

"What the hell..." The two detectives stared at the words, cracking their skulls.

"It looks gibberish." Frost said after a while. Jane rolled her eyes. "No way!" she sighed. "It must be an anagram of sorts." She walked to her computer and typed the letters into an anagram software.

"Nasal jaws held kid?" she tried, grunting. "Add jeans hawks ill?"

"Wait a minute..." Maura stared at the word intensely. Then, she turned to the computer and typed something rapidly, Frost and Jane watching her. After a while, the ME grinned.

"I knew I'd seen it somewhere before."she flipped the screen. There was a case file from about a year ago with the photo of a man with tattoos all over his neck and arms. _Hank Lils, _according to the information next to it.

"What does a case file from a gang member have to do with this situation?" Jane asked her friend, frowning. Maura smiled and walked to the whiteboard in the corner, writing the letters down quickly.

_DJLAAKES WIDHNLSA_

She turned around. "We didn't solve this case, but I saw the file when I was in the archives some time ago. He was a gang member, went by the name of 'Dead Jaws'."

Frost and Jane had identical looks of confusion. Maura laughed at them and wrote a second line on the blackboard.

_HANK DEAD JAWS LILS_

"It's a match."Jane whispered as she compared the two. "You're a genius, Maur."

"So I've been told." She dropped back onto her chair. "Now we have to find a connection between a gang member and a golf player."

"Wait a minute, this isn't making sense." Jane jumped up from her chair and walked to the whiteboard too, turning around to face the two others.

"If she got murdered and was found dead in five minutes, she wouldn't have had the time to write down the name of her killer. Most certainly not in anagram."

"What if she knew? Maybe the guy stalked her and she wanted someone to know if it came to this?" Frost theorized.

"Or...maybe someone else left it there to frame Hank Lils."

"I don't really picture a gang member that spent five years in prison for drug dealing making up anagrams if he murders." Jane bit her lip in thought.

"It all seems so weird..." She stared at the whiteboard intensely, hoping to find some hidden meaning. "What are we not seeing..."

Frost cleared his throat. "And...big question number two: why cut off her left hand? It seems like a symbolic move."

"Incoming theory: Dawn Jacobs hires Hank Lils to get rid of competition by cutting off Sasha Ferguson's hand. When she struggles, he kills her. Jacobs orders him to put a piece of paper at the crime scene in anagram style so that he doesn't know what's on it, to frame him and get her hands clean."

Maura thought about the theory for a second. "Sounds plausible, but we won't know for sure until we talk to Lils, search Jacobs' place for evidence and find a way to connect the two."

"Great work, guys." Frost said to them. Jane yawned and leaned back in her chair, looking at the clock. _13:52._

"We skipped lunch, Maur." She said lazily from her chair. The blonde looked up and nodded. "You're right. Come on, we can go eat something. We'll be back in 30."

"I'll call if something important happens."

"Thanks, Frost. Come on, Jane." The detecftive smiled as she followed Maura out of the police station.

"This is a mess..."Maura whispered, more to herself than to Jane, as they walked into the nearest bistro.

"I know. Good job on the anagram back there, I'm proud of you." Jane smiled at her as the blonde took a deep breath and shrugged. "I've always been good with words."

They quickly ordered two caesar salads and a jug of water.

"Your theory seemed interesting, but I think you stereotyped too much." Maura said, looking her friend in the eyes. Jane raised an eyebrow in question.

"Well..." the blonde continued, "...the golfer is a rich snob who'd do anything to be number one so she hires the gang member who goes too far. It sounds too strained."

"I think it sounds pretty good." Jane shrugged. "As long as we make a connection between the two, everything is good."

"Something doesn't seem right." Maura shook her head. "I have a feeling we're getting it all wrong."

"You overthink sometimes. This is perfect. And it's your anagram we're following."

Maura didn't look convinced but decided to let it go when she saw their salads coming up. They thanked the waitress quickly and attacked their plates. Neither of them seemed to realize how hungry they really were until they started eating.

About two bites in, Jane's phone buzzed.

"Really?!" she grunted as she dropped her silverware and answered. "Rizzoli. Oh, hey Frost, what's wrong? Uhu...yeah, okay. Thanks." She disconnected the call and put it back. Maura looked at her with both eyebrows raised. "And?"

"He confirmed what I feared. Lils was bailed out of jail a couple of weeks ago. The sum of money was posted anonymously."

"Did he check Dawn Jacobs' bank accounts?" Maura put her fork down as well and stared intensely at her colleague.

"He said that he didn't find anything interesting. Just regular deposits and purchases."

"Secret bank account?" Maura asked. Jane put another piece of chicken in her mouth and shrugged. "Possible. Let's try and track Lils down first, see what he has to say."

"Good one. We should track him." Maura smiled. "We're making progress."

"Yeah, hooray for us." Jane sighed deeply. Silence landed on them.

"I can't get over the fact that she's dead. I read some articles about her a couple of weeks ago."

"How so?" Jane asked, finishing her glass of water. The blonde shrugged nonchalantly. "Golf magazines. She was really talented."

Jane didn't really know how to respond to this. She rubbed her friend's arm slowly, in an attempt to comfort. Maura shook her head. "It's okay. I'm just wondering...I wanna find out who killed her."

"We'll find the bastard." Jane smiled. "I'm sure we will."

The rest of the lunch happened along with comfortable smalltalk. When the two finished their meal, they walked back to the police station.

"You can say whatever you want, I think I wore it better." Jane grunted as they reached their desks again. Maura raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right? I pulled that off way better than you."

"You looked like a manatee in that dress." Jane winked at her friend, whose mouth dropped open. "Excuse me?!"

"You're excused."Jane laughed as Frost walked up to them with a file, looking grim. The mood of laughter was broken immediately.

"What's wrong, Frost?" Maura frowned at him.

"Suzie says the official cause of death is blood loss. She had five stab wounds in her chest and abdominal area."

"Do we know with what object she was raped?" Jane asked. He shook his head. "They're still working on it. In the meantime..." he pointed at his computer. "According to my sources, Lils is frequently visiting this bar." He pointed at a map of Boston and zoomed in on a street, turning around.

"It's a pretty shady place, and we can't go busting in. We'll have to do it the hard way."

"Go in and ask him nicely?" Jane frowned, scratching her neck. Frost nodded. "That's kind of the plan."

"I'll go." Maura got up. Jane raised an eyebrow. "No you're not."

"Why wouldn't I? I could hear him out, this is a murder we're talking about!"

"Yeah, and it can be your murder as well if you don't watch out." Jane commented. "No way in hell I'm letting you go undercover into a tent like that!"

"Well, what would _you _do?! You'd go yourself and I don't want you to go! What if something happens to you?"

"Okay! I get it, you both love each other!" Frost frowned, looking at the two detectives, who blushed. "Look, Jane. She'll be protected, we'll have cops everywhere surrounding the place. She'll wear a wire and a camera and we can be by her side in seconds."

Jane looked her partner in the eyes, silently pleading. When she saw that it didn't have effect, she grunted. "Okay, fine. But I'm going in as well, just hanging around."

"I can live with that. Jane." She continued, pulling her chin up gently to look her into the eyes again. "This isn't my first undercover mission. I'll be fine."

"Okay..." Jane bit her lip, nodding. "But I'll be there, Maur. I'll protect you."

"You always protect me." Maura smiled as she hugged the detective, who smiled and wrapped her arms around her. Frost watched the exchange silently. When they pulled apart, Maura nodded. "I'm going to do this. Meet up with him, compliment him on his tattoos and try to get him to talk."

"Fine. I'll get the stuff." Jane grunted, stomping out of the room with a defeated tred. Frost looked up at the blonde. "I'll tell everyone what the plan is. Maura..." he stopped in front of her and grabbed her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "There is a chance that you'll get hurt, you know that. That guy isn't a pussy, he's dangerous."

"I'll be fine." Maura smiled. "Don't worry, Barry. And make sure Jane isn't hysterical, I know her."

"You know why she's protective of you." Frost looked at her with a sad look on his face. She nodded quickly. "Because of what Hoyt did, I know...I already told her that it wouldn't happen again."

"Well unfortunately, that's not your choice. So you'll just have to bear with her, it was a tough time for her."

"I understand, Frost...thanks." she nodded quickly as she walked out of the room and got ready to go.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: I've realized that Maura in this story is putting more of a detective role than of an ME. I don't even know if I find it so bad. Frankly, I like badass Maura. On with the chap ;)**_

**Chapter 3**

"Just relax, okay?" Maura looked at Jane, taking her right hand in both of hers. "You'll be here with me, nothing will happen."

The detective took a deep breath and chuckled lightly. "I'm more nervous than you, apparently."

"Okay, here's the plan." Their boss, sargeant Cavanaugh, appeared from one of the cars parked in the lot and walked over to the couple of detectives.

"Isles, you go in first. You walk to the bar and order something. The bartender has been notified, he'll play along. According to sources, Lils is sitting at the bar as well, waiting for a deal. You'll notice him immediately. Start a small conversation. Meanwhile, Rizzoli enters, orders a drink at the bar too and stays there passively. Do not..." he looked at Jane sternly, "...interfere with what she's doing unless things go downhill. And even if they go downhill, you take her and you get the hell out of that place. We have cops here outside the building on stand-by if it goes bad, but let's hope it doesn't. Give me your gun."

Jane shook her head quickly. "No way."

Maura rolled her eyes. "Don't you think they'll notice it when you walk inside a club with a gun strapped to your waist? Jesus, Jane, just give it."

"What if _he _has a gun? What if he shoots you?"The detective asked, with wide eyes. Maura lifted her cardigan the slightest to reveal what's underneath. "Kevlar. I'm wearing a bulletproof vest and it's hot as hell so can we please just go, so that it's over quickly? You're making too big a deal out of this." Maura let Jane check the camera and wire one more time and then walked off, and into the building.

The first thing she noticed was a big amount of smoke, causing her to cough. Telling herself to regain her composure, she walked to the bar and ordered a martini. The bartender nodded and prepared the drink, putting it in front of her. She smiled slightly as she accepted the drink and looked around her. She saw a big table where about nine guys were playing poker. In the corner, on the sofa, there were two couples making out viciously, and near the bathroom, a what she could only imagine would be a prostitute, giving a man a lapdance.

With a jolt in her gut, she noticed Hank Lils, sitting one stool away from her. The one in the middle was empty. After another mental scolding for being such a chicken at times like these, Maura scooted over into the middle seat and looked at him.

"Hey there." She smiled at him. He looked down, lowered the cigarette he'd been smoking, and looked at her, blowing the smoke into her face. She winced, but laughed it away. "What's your name?"

"I'm not interested in whores." He said roughly. Maura laughed again, cursing the waver in her voice. "Too bad I'm not a whore then."

He frowned, turning around so that his body faced her. "What are you looking for? This doesn't exactly look like a five-star restaurant. You seem like a rich snob."

Resisting the smile flirting with her facial muscles, she looked him in the eyes. "I'm looking for a big boy around here...word on the street is that they know him from here to Tokyo."

Lils swallowed thickly and grinned, shoving the remains of his cigarette in the ashtray. Maura drank from her martini once again, now noticing another person in the seat next to her. _Jane_.

"Well...I'd need a name to help you out." His voice was rough, like sandpaper, and the detective felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

"I believe his name was 'Dead Jaws'. Do you know anything about him? My friend told me he had lots of great stuff for a reasonable price."

If his previous expression was a grin, he was now beaming. He scooted a little closer to her, but remained cool. "And what would you be interested in buying?"

Maura leaned closer to him as well, feeling the smell of alcohol and vomit get into her nose and resisting the urge to throw up herself. "Coke. 250 grams."

"That's a big purchase for such a small girl..." he brought his hand up and let it rest on her thigh passively. Next to her, she heard the thunk of a glass being put back on the bar a little too roughly.

Deciding to ignore Jane, she turned all of her attention to the man in front of her. Prison hadn't done him any good. His hair was turning grey and his tattoos were getting stretched and soggy.

"Well...what can I say?" she winked at him and laughed as he bit his lip. "Naughty girl." He raised his hand again and moved his finger from her stomach, and up to her chest. Her heart leaped at the thought of the wire and the bulletproof vest. He was going to feel something...

She took his arm and pulled it back gently. "There's no need for that. I'll pay you whatever price you want. Money doesn't matter."

"250 grams, eh?" he repeated, obviously distracted by the shape of her breasts. She nodded.

"Well...we're talking 2500 dollars, at least."

Realizing that this was taking too long, Maura tried to figure out a way to get the answers quickly, but subtle.

"This morning, when my friend was over and he told me about you..." she winked at him. "...He told me that you just got out of prison...did the cops get you?" she pouted. He nodded, obviously trying to show off for her. "I put up a fight...I killed two with one bullet. Some asshole blocked my way and they got me. I was in for five years, got bailed out some time ago."

"Really? By your accomplice or something?"she asked, raising her arm to move up and down his thigh, sipping from her drink. He shrugged.

"It was one of the people I work for. As soon as I got out he ordered me to get more coke over the border from Mexico so I did a few drug trips with false ID...you know the drill, I bet." He winked at her as her hand went even higher up, almost reaching his pelvis.

"I just finished a job yesterday. Sold five kilograms to some rich guy in Beverly Hills. Got paid 5K to do it, and I'm celebrating right now."

"I bet you slept well last night."she smiled at him. He nodded. "Yeah, I went to the club last night, got wasted. Woke up with two whores in my bed around noon."

That was the answer Maura needed, and oddly enough, her gut believed the guy. But to be sure...

"Have you ever killed someone other than the two cops?" she asked in played admiration as her hand went up, now reaching his private parts and giving them a light squeeze. She heard Jane cough behind her, but paid no attention to it.

He gasped slightly, and smiled brightly. "Yeah, I killed my best mate. He was shitting himself about some deal we were making involving millions of dollars, and he was going to sell me out, so I finished him."

She nodded and let go of his pants, finishing her drink and leaning closer one last time, taking a ballpoint pen out of her cardigan pocket and writing down a fake number on his hand. She winked at him, mouthed 'call me' and left the bar, walking to the parking lot and getting inside the car they agreed on, waiting.

About one minute afterwards, Jane emerged from the building as well, getting inside the same car and hugging Maura tightly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine...I just need a shower. I touched that guy's junk!" she winced. Jane laughed weakly, putting a hand on her thigh as he had done, but with a loving gesture. "And? I didn't hear that much." The officer who was behind the wheel started the car and drove back to the station.

"He's clean. I mean, he talked so openly about drug trafficking and shooting cops, he didn't suspect a thing. And if he talked this much about all of his archievements to impress me, surely murdering a pro golf player would've been at the top of his list."

Jane shrugged. "I guess you're right."

Reaching the station in no time, Maura got out of the car first and walked up to Cavanaugh, whose car had just pulled up and was waiting at the entrance. "Glad to see you back in one piece."

"Thanks, sir. So..." she started as they walked into the station and towards the elevators. "I assume you heard the story?"

"Yeah, he didn't do it. But confessing the murder of two cops, drug dealing, trafficking _and _sexually harassing a cop, that's basically a lifetime in prison."

"He didn't sexually harass a cop per definition, he harassed an undercover ME." Jane said as the three of them got inside the small metal cabin.

"Doesn't matter." Their boss growled. "That bastard is the prototype of the guys that we need to lock up forever. It's been a long day, you two should head home."

"Are you sure, sir? I can drive her home and come back?" Jane offered. Sean shook his head. "No way, you two need each other right now. The case won't run away. Make sure you're rested for tomorrow, I want this case solved asap!" he walked back to his office.

Maura looked at her best friend. "Shower and bedtime?"

"Sounds good. Uhm..." Jane looked at her feet, suddenly a bit nervous. The blonde raised an eyebrow at the woman's discomfort.

"Can I...sleep in your bed tonight? I don't know, this case...you going undercover...I have a bad feeling about it."

Maura chuckled. "I'm fine, nothing will happen. But okay, you can sleep in my room."

Jane smiled. "Thanks, Maur."

"As long as you don't snore." The blonde winked as they grabbed their stuff from their desks. Jane's mouth fell open. "I do _not _snore!"

"That's what you think."With a grin, they walked back to the car and drove off. All of it, from exiting the bar to shoving her key in the lock of her front door, it all happened in a blur to Maura. She became aware of her surroundings as soon as she stepped in the shower and felt the warm water run on her back. With a content sigh, she felt all of his touches and hands disappear from her body. She washed her body, hair and stayed under for a couple more minutes, thinking about the case and staring at the wall.

When she was satisfied, she switched off the water, dried herself off and changed into her pyjamas. She walked into her room, seeing Jane lying on the bed with her laptop with her reading glasses on. Smiling, she closed the door and walked up to her. "Have I told you lately how adorable you look with those on your nose?"

"I hate them...I'm glad I don't have to wear them at work." Jane bit her lip after she answered, looking at the screen again.

"What's so much more interesting on a laptop screen than me?" Maura slid underneath the covers of the bed as well and folded her arms underneath her head, looking at the screen. Jane was researching the media attention on the golf murder. Apart from some slight articles about police not letting anyone play on hole seven, the case remained quiet, apparently. A fact the ME appreciated.

"I bet Cavanaugh pulled some strings to keep it quiet." Jane answered her silent question. The detective took off her reading glasses, clapped her laptop shut and put it on her nightstand, grunting and switching the light off with a flick of the switch next to the bed.

"Goodnight." Maura whispered through the dark. Jane scooted a little closer and sighed. "Goodnight."

"Do you blame me for going undercover?" Maura asked now that they were both comfortable on the bed. Jane took a while to answer her question. "We both know you're the better actor...I think I'd have given him a beating early on." Both women laughed at her statement. "But...I'm just glad nothing happened. I don't blame you."

"That's good...I felt how much you wanted to kick in when he was talking. I'm glad that you didn't."

"The guy was touching you all over...I mean...you must've felt _something_."

"I felt something...but I knew that if I let my personal feelings get in the way, we'd never know who killed Sasha Ferguson."

"So he didn't do it?" Jane asked, putting her hand on Maura's stomach slowly, looking at her through the dark.

"We were wrong." The ME stated as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "The anagram was too good to be true."

"So you're saying that the clue has a different meaning?"

"I'm pretty sure." The blonde bit her lower lip and stared at the ceiling, shrugging her thoughts off after a while. "We'll work the case tomorrow. Right now I just want to fall asleep and dream about rainbows and ponies."

"Second that." Jane smiled as they both fell into silence, falling asleep rather quickly.

(...)

"Morning." Jane greeted her as the blonde walked downstairs and into the kitchen looking tired. She yawned as she answered. "Morning. I'm usually the first one to wake up...I guess I didn't hear my alarm clock."

"You didn't. I switched it off. I figured...since what happened last night, you could use a couple more minutes of sleep."

"You make it sound like I almost died last night." Maura joked as she walked to the coffee maker and put a cup underneath it, the machine filling the cup up immediately.

"Well...to be honest I was kind of afraid for your life." Jane admitted with the slightest hint of a smile. "Especially when he said he didn't have any problem with murdering cops."

"Okay, I hear you, but I think we should forget about it. We'll just hand his file over to the drug unit and let them handle him for what he did. We have a homicide to investigate, and there's something about that anagram that I can't let go."

"If it is even an anagram to begin with."

"Yeah...I'll probably spend most of my day searching for the answer." Maura drank from her coffee and grabbed a slice of bread from a bag, putting some butter on it and taking a bite.

"Why don't we just hire a cryptologist?" Jane asked. "I mean, you and I would have more time to spend on the case itself and the other clues, and that guy can solve the mystery of the paper and give us another hint."

"Well, that sounds like a plan. You should propose that to Cavanaugh. In the meantime...we still have a suspect. We should have the warrant by now, we can go search her house."

"From what image I have of the case right now, I bet there's a forgotten drawer somewhere where there are some photos that will simply prove what we already know: they were best friends, they fought and then they were enemies. There won't be a room with Sasha's blood on the wall saying 'die bitch die'."

"Okay, that would be cool." Maura grinned uncharacteristically. Jane frowned at her friend's enthusiasm but brushed it off quickly.

"Unless we can explicitly prove that Dawn Jacobs was at the golf course at the time of the murder, that woman has an alibi, even though it's a crappy one. And the husband will confirm the story, whether it's true or not."

"Sounds like something husbands would do."

"However..." Jane continued with a deep frown on her flawless face, "...the murder doesn't explain the rape pre-mortem. I mean, if you were a killer, would you rape your victim first thing in the morning and then let her go on a morning golfing trip to follow her and murder her there?"

"I think it's safe to say that they're not related to each other." Maura scratched her chin in thought. "Let me finish my coffee, put my clothes on and then we're ready to go back to the station."

"Sounds like a plan." Jane started to put the dishes in the dishwasher and clean up the table, and by the time she was done Maura had finished her coffee. The blonde went upstairs, humming a song.

Jane stayed downstairs, cleaning up a bit and then taking her badge and gun and waiting in the hallway.

"Adam Summers." The brown-haired, dressed up man presented himself as he shook both detectives' hands. "Head of Cryptola."

"Cryptola?" Jane repeated. "I don't believe I'm familiar with your company."

"Oh, Cryptola isn't a company. It's more of an organization. It's a group of people assembling every Saturday afternoon to learn more about cryptology and breaking codes. I'm the instructor. Forgive me about being this late, please, I had a long night last night. An ex-cryptologist at NSA was coming to speak about his career and it became late."

"We understand, mister Summers. We need your help in a homicide case." Maura nodded towards a room normally used for interrogation. She pointed at the chair, inviting the man to take a seat. He did as he was bid, and looked at the two women. "A homicide case? Someone got murdered?"

"Yesterday morning, around seven am, a woman was murdered while she was playing golf. Her friend found the body in the bushes." Jane showed him a picture of the body quickly. He looked at it, and then looked back up. "That...that seems horrible." He was obviously distressed about the picture, so Jane took it back almost immediately.

"Mister Summers, we found this clue next to the body." Maura showed him a document with the text printed on it. "We were wondering if you could decipher what it means."

_DJLAAKES WIDHNLSA_

The man stared at the paper for some time, narrowing his eyes. "It's not a coincidence. It's exactly sixteen letters."

"What does that mean?" Jane crossed her arms, watching the man intensely. He looked up. "Have you ever read about cryptology?"

Both Jane and Maura shook their heads. Adam Summers looked up and smiled. "It dates back from thousands of years ago, as soon as mankind had somehing to hide, they used codes to protect it. This code..." he tapped the paper, "...is the result of a technique developed in ancient Rome."

"Okay..." Jane nodded for him to continue, handing him a writing pad and a pen. He accepted the two and motioned for them to come closer.

"If you write the letters separately..." he wrote down on the pad.

_ A_

"And put them in a box of four by four, known as a Caesar's box..." he continued, doing as he was telling them.

_D J L A  
A K E S  
W I D H  
N L S A_

"That's your code." He pointed at the words with a smile. The two detectives shook their heads. He looked up at them.

"Read it vertically." To help them out even more, he wrote down the solution of the code.

_DAWNJKILLEDSASHA_

"Dawn Jacobs killed Sasha." Maura looked at Jane, running out of the room afterwards. Jane looked at the man. "Thank you for helping us. I'll let an officer show you the way out."

She nodded at the police officer next to the door and then left.

"We have her in a corner." Frost smiled at the large screen, showing the picture of Sasha and Dawn, hugging and smiling.

"We have one more clue. That doesn't mean we have enough evidence to get her."

"I can help you out in that department." Mauar walked in. The two detectives spun around to face their colleague.

"Good morning! I have the results of the rape investigation."

"And?" Jane looked expectantly at the ME.

"She was raped with a long, relatively narrow round object."

"Well, that could be thousands of things."

Maura shook her head. "No, it can't. The imprint it left is distinctive. It's a very specific shaft. The imprint was from a Callaway hybrid."

Jane opened her mouth to voice her confusion, but Frost interrupted her. "She was raped with a golf club?!"

"Yes. A very specific golf club. I took the liberty to do a little detective work for you guys."she walked to the picture and pointed at the bag in front. "See that bag? Dawn Jacobs plays with Callaway clubs."

Frost and Jane shared a look. "Okay, I'm going over there." Jane said.

"I'll go with you!" Maura spoke up. Jane frowned. "Why?"

"We have to get a DNA sample! Please?" she begged. Frost looked at Jane and nodded. "Eh, what the hell. Let her go."

(...)

"This is it...we have her." Jane beamed. Maura nodded as she strapped her seatbelt on and started the car, speeding off to the adress Frost had given them.

"We'll take her with us to the station and interrogate her there. A police car will arrive shortly after us to transport her." Jane said, adjusting the rear view mirror. Maura nodded, her hand resting on the grip of the car absent-mindedly.

Reaching the mansion in no time, the two colleagues got out of the car, walking to the front door and ringing the doorbell. "Boston police, open the door!" Jane yelled. After a while of silence, she tried again. "BPD, open the door!"

"Maura, stay behind me."

Maura nodded at Jane, who stepped back, kicking the door in roughly, wincing at the pain shooting up in her leg. "What is that door made from?!" Jane pulled her gun and stepped inside, clearing the hallway.

Jane walked into the living room, gun aiming from left to right. "Clear." Maura followed behind her, and walked towards her friend. As she reached the door towards the living room, a silhouette appeared behind her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her away, spraying something in her eyes. Maura cried out in pain as she was dropped to the ground, her kit falling on the ground with a thump. Jane's heart stopped at the sound of her best friend in pain, and aimed her gun, switching the light on. Dawn Jacobs was standing in the doorway, breathing heavy.

"What the hell!" she yelled out at Jane pointing the gun at her. "You two again! What are you doing in my house?!"

"We're Boston police and we rang the doorbell, asking you to open the door!" Jane shouted back, the gun in her hands not wavering.

"I was in the garden, I didn't hear you! So what, you just barge in like this?! I thought you were a burglar!" she aimed the last part at Maura, whimpering on the ground.

"Drop the pepperspray." Jane said to the woman, who shook her head in disbelief and droppde the can. "I didn't _mean _to mace you! I was protecting my house!"

"Okay, okay." Jane holstered her gun and walked to Maura, looking at her. "Are you okay?! Come on..." she pulled the woman up and looked at Dawn.

"Dawn Jacobs, you are under arrest for the rape and murder of Sasha Ferguson." Jane grabbed handcuffs from her pocket and walked over to the woman.

"Wait a minute, what?! No! I didn't murder that bitch! Someone else did!"

"Nice try." Jane shook her head. "We found evidence against you."

"I'm innocent!" the woman squealed. Jane took the woman and walked outside, seeing the back-up car and handing the golf player over to the officers. Then, she raced back inside, by Maura's side in seconds.

"Hey...come on...do I need to get you to a hospital?" Jane asked carefully. Maura shook her head, rubbing at her eyes. "I'm fine...my retina is just a little irritated...let's head back to the station..."

Jane didn't buy the answer but humored her by taking her back to the car.

"What happened to you?!" Frost's eyes widened as he followed Jane inside the morgue, where the ME was working on stitching the Y-incision that indicated the autopsy.

"I got maced..."Maura gritted her teeth and looked at the detective through red and puffy eyes. Frost stepped closer and grabbed a plastic tube with a small drop system on top. He pushed Maura down into a chair and opened her eyes, dripping some of the fluid into the eyes. Maura grunted.

"It's regular water. You just have to keep flushing the chemicals out of your eyes, okay?"

Jane looked surprised. "Frost, how do you know all this better than doctor death herself?"

The man shrugged. "I got a course on macing treatment earlier this year. It's a natural reflex to rub the eyes but you'll only get the chemicals to burn harder."

Frost handed the tube to his friend and turned to Jane. "How did it go?"

"We got her...she kept on saying she was innocent though." Jane looked at the ME. "Is there a possibility that Dawn Jacobs is innocent?"

"I thought you were the one convinced that she did it?" Maura asked the detective. Jane ran a hand through her hair and nodded quickly. "Yeah...but I can't shake the feeling that we're wrong. I mean, we were confident about Hank Lils and he had nothing to do with it."

Korsak's head popped up from the doorway. "Jane, can I talk to you?"

The detective followed him out and looked at him. "I just started interrogating her. She claims that one of her clubs was stolen at the course two days ago. I talked to the receptionist of the club, he confirms that she walked up to him and threw a fit about losing an expensive club."

"So the club was stolen." Jane's heart sank. He nodded. "And...more bad news. A phonecall was made from Dawn Jacobs' cellphone yesterday at the time of the murder. I tracked it, it came from within her house."

"So she's innocent. Damn it." Jane whispered, rubbing at her eyes tiredly. "Okay, I'll go tell Maura and Frost."

Korsak walked back to his desk and Jane felt like crying as she came back inside the morgue. Maura looked up, her eyes were getting a little less puffy. "What's wrong?"

"Jacobs didn't do it." Jane spoke harshly. "Her alibi was confirmed and the club used to rape Sasha Ferguson was stolen two days ago."

Maura's face fell. "So we have nothing."

"Not a single thing. We had two suspects, we have zero."

"Damn it." Maura cursed too as she dropped back in the chair, dripping some more water in her eyes. "This is bad."

"Wait a minute..."Jane remained silent for a while, the two other people in the room looking at her expectingly.

"Why would Ferguson carry a piece of paper that had the name of her killer in code language?"

"Maybe...she wanted specific people to find out who killed her?" Frost tried. "Just people that knew the code."

"The witness said that he didn't know much about her personal life. It's a long shot..." Maura bit her lip. "...Adam Summers said that he had an event that yesterday afternoon. Craig Danning said that they took the earliest flight because Sasha had to go somewhere in the afternoon..."

"Let's find out how many members that Cryptola organisation has." Jane left the morgue, followed by Maura who thanked Frost for the water tube.

"Cryptola...cryptola..." Jane repeated as she researched the organisation. She shook her head after a while, feeling Maura watch over her shoulder. "There's nothing. I can't find anything on the internet."

"Must be a hoax then." Maura sighed. "Well...this is new."

"Let's talk to Adam Summers then. Maybe he'll know more."

_**A/N: The OOC levels in this chapter are damn high, and I'm aware. My sincerest apologies.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Last chap of this (relatively) short fic. Hope you liked it!**_

**Chapter four**

"Mister Summers, we have a feeling that you are not telling us the truth." Maura sat on a chair facing him, Jane was standing at the door.

"What are you talking about? I cracked your code..." he frowned. Maura shook her head, smiling. "I tried to contact you but you didn't give me a business card."

"Well...they're getting printed right now..." both women could see that he was getting uncomfortable. Jane continued.

"And then we searched Cryptola on the internet but we didn't find anything...how is that possible?"

"We haven't had the time to make a website yet..." he said quickly. Maura smiled. "See, I think you're lying."

"Look..." he leaned closer to Maura. Jane narrowed her eyes, her hand going to the grip of her gun unconsciously.

"I didn't kill Sasha." He whispered. "Dawn Jacobs did."

"She didn't. We found evidence that proved she wasn't at the crime scene."

"No!" Summers growled, leaning even closer, his face turning into a mixture of rage and sadness. "Dawn killed her! She tore Sasha apart!"

"What are you talking about!" Maura's eyes widened at the man's agression. He seemed to regain his composure and took a seat on his chair again.

"I've known Sasha for a while now. She studied math at UCLA, I was her professor. She was really into cryptology, and so was I. So...We got together after class sometimes to do some research and crack each other's codes." Jane saw beads of sweat appear on his forehead.

"It grew into something else." Jane assumed, taking notes from what he was saying on a notepad. He nodded. "We kissed...she was still my student, I couldn't...If someone found out..." he looked down and clenched his jaw. "She was really good at golfing."

"What happened yesterday?" Maura asked, coming closer. Summers took a deep breath. "Dawn ruined her life by fighting with her. They used to do everything together, they basically lived together. She told Dawn all about her parents and why they were dead...and how she had to take care of Simon all by herself. Then that bitch let her down. Sasha was depressed for days. She wouldn't talk to me, or crack any of my codes...or kiss me."

"So you killed her." The ME frowned.

"I DIDN'T KILL SASHA!" He yelled, losing all patience. The gleam in his eyes was one of pure madness. Maura recoiled and nodded quickly. "Okay...you didn't...what happened after that!"

His face went normal again as quickly as it had distorted with rage.

"I told her we needed a solution. She said she couldn't live like this anymore...She wanted to go. She wanted to commit suicide." He started crying softly. Jane looked at her best friend, unsure about what to do.

"I tried to talk her out of it. For days...It wouldn't work. She needed to go. She felt like it was her time." He dried his eyes roughly. "I told her that she'd at least have to take Dawn with her."

"Was that the plan? Kill Sasha and put Dawn in prison?" Jane asked. He nodded. "I had nothing to do with it...she ordered me to help her."

"And you were so in love with her that you went along."

"I loved her so much...She was perfect. She was so certain of what she was going to do...I just had to steal Dawn's club, put the code next to her and get rid of the hand and knife."

"Where is the hand?" Maura asked. He looked up. "At home...I put it somewhere safe so that nobody could take it from me...take _her _from me."

"Did she order you to rape her?"

"No...I didn't...rape her. We had sex but...It wasn't aggressive."

"So what...she raped herself?" Jane's face scrunched up. Summers shrugged. "She told me she used to cut herself...and she flirted with the idea of pain and death."

Jane winced. "How the hell can you rape yourself?!"

"Enough force."Maura said to her, before turning back to the man in front of her.

"So...she left the rape evidence, went on her morning golfing trip, disappeared into the bushes, discarded her clothes, chopped her own hand off and stabbed herself to death?"

Adam Summers, now in hysterical tears, nodded.

"All of that just to frame Dawn?"

He nodded again slowly.

Jane took a deep breath. "Adam Summers, you are under arrest for conspiring against Dawn Jacobs and for your part in the death of Sasha Ferguson."

"Wait...I didn't do anything! No! PLEASE!" He yelled out as the black-haired detective handcuffed him. He thrashed wildly, Jane called in officers who kept him under control and took him away.

Maura pulled a stray lock of hair out of her face and looked at Jane. "Well...that was...intriguing."

"How can you rape yourself?! That must hurt like hell!"Jane exclaimed, wincing. "I can feel it happening!"

Maura smiled, wrapped her arm around her shoulders and left the interrogation room.

"So, what's going to happen to Simon now?" Maura asked as she looked up from the book she was reading on their couch. Jane, who was playing a game on her laptop, looked up. "Huh?"

"Simon. The brother of the victim, what's going to happen to him?"

"I think he'll be in foster care until he's eighteen." Jane paused the game and put the laptop away, looking at the blonde.

"Poor guy. First his mom, then his dad, now his sister." Maura sighed deeply. Jane nodded. "Yeah..."

"Good job today." Maura smiled at her. Jane arched an eyebrow and laughed. "You too. Oh, and Maur?"

"Yeah?" Maura faced her with a smile.

"You didn't really look like a manatee."


End file.
